What Makes Hinduism Great? 

The greatness of Hinduism can be summarized in few words.
“Freedom of Thoughts and Actions.”

1.      Hinduism is a way of life, a culture and not an organized religion like Islam or Christianity.  There is no POPE or hierarchy in Hinduism.  Only thing Hinduism have a lot of scriptures. 

3      Hinduism never ever had a "spring cleaning" like all other religions do.   What ever any one wrote for the last thousands of years are still there for people to study and discuss.

5  Hinduism never state it has monopoly on truth or God.  According to Hinduism, God & truth are universal. 

7    Hinduism never state only by becoming a Hindu, one can attain salvation. Instead  Hindu scriptures state, "Salvation or self-realization is open to all, irrespective whether a person Hindu or not.  Even an agnostic and atheist can attain salvation.

Salvation or self-realization is the process by which one is attaining the true knowledge that he is the immortal soul Atman within and giving up the false knowledge that one is the perishable material body.
9   Hinduism never forcefully  convert others  to Hinduism like other religions do.   

Hinduism as a culture and it does not force  any one to become a
Hindu.  Those who convert to Hinduism are doing that since they fell in
love with Hinduism.

10   Hinduism believes in one and only God Brahman which expresses itself in trillions of forms.   Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and  

11  Even atheists can proudly proclaim they are Hindus.    In

fact the Charvaka philosophy or Nastika philosophy, (existed during the
Vedic period) founded by Charvaka rejected the existence of God and
considered religion as an aberration.  Nobody killed Charvaka. He died
a natural death. 

12   Hindus do NOT worship idols..Hindus use idols like everyone  else to concentrate on a God who has no name or form.  All worships in all religions start with God  with any name or   form.  As the devotee matures in devotion, devotee start sees a God without any form at all.

14  Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution.       This belief is in parallel with the modern big bang theory. 

                                                            

Karma & Reincarnation  THEORY

What is Karma?

The word KARMA has many meanings in Hinduism such as  

 

1. Action

2. Duty

3. Result of an action

4. Destiny

5. Effect

6. Result

7. Product 

 

are some of them.

When you work or when you think, you create an impression in the Chitta or in the subconscious mind. That impression or vasana or tendency is also known as Samsara.

 

You and I are filled with impressions or vasanas or Samasaras. These SAMSARAS [subliminal tendencies]  are  the root cause of reincarnation as per the Upanishads.

 

From where did the concept of Karma orginate?

Details about KARMA was first described in the  Satapatha Brahmana.   The concept of KARMA originated from the Hindu belief that there is a PERFECT UNIVERSAL ORDER named RTA or RITA in the world.

 

Rig Veda discusses about RTA or RITA and god Varuna is the guardian of RTA. Nothing happens at random, but things happen under a universal order. Gods associated with RTA are Varuna and Mitra in the Rig Veda.

 

 It is the RTA or RITA later became DHARMA in Hindu scriptures. That is the reason why it is very difficult to define the word DHARMA. Of course DHARMA is more complex than RTA or RITA.

 

It is the same DHARMA became the belief system known as SANATHANA DHRAMA…which finally became HINDUISM.

 

What exactly is the Law of Karma?   Hindus believe in life after death. They also believe in the concept, ” Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap [ Gal 6:7]  This is the basis of Karmic law.  Every action, every thought  has a result. There is no such thing that an action  or thought without a result.  Every action and every thought is weighed on the scales of eternal justice.  Nobody can get away from the claws of karma.   Action is unavoidable even for the incarnation of God according to Lord Krishna. 

What happens to us when we die?  According to Hindu scriptures, body alone dies. The immortal  soul [ATMAN] within the body never dies. But the path that soul takes is decided by the PAST ACTIONS & THOUGHTS of the body, which are collectively called KARMAS. A departed soul search and find out a body, where it can continue doing what ever it left off in the last life.

 

It is not necessary that a departed  soul takes the body of a human being.    According to Srimad Mahabhavatam Purana, it can even  take the body of an animal or a lower life form.  There are many stories in the vast Hindu mythology [Puranas]  about that.  Lord Krishna said  in the Bhagavad Gita, that Atman [immortal soul within the body] go on changing bodies like body changes clothes, until Atman attains realization.

 

In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says:  ” The immortal soul which dwells within the body can never be slain”  [Gita 2:30]

 

Are you saying that each person gets a body he or she deserves in the next life?  If you were a pious person in your last life, you will end up in a home, where both husband and wife are very pious. Reverse is equally true. Hinduism state that people can even go down in the ladder of evolution; a criminal may even take up the body of a tiger etc.

 

How important are our thoughts?  Every thought, however insignificant may be is counted. A thought never dies. It may lose its strength in time, but never dies completely. Knowing the power of thoughts,  Gautama Buddha said:   “Hatred is not conquered by hatred at any time, but hatred is won by love; this is an eternal truth”  

 

Jesus Christ said: “Love Thy Enemy”  [ Luke 6:27]. You can punish your enemy BUT DO NOT HATE YOUR ENEMY. If you harbor hatred thoughts, the person you are destroying is you yourself.  Hindu scriptures state  that  Any thought you make circles around you, like bees around a flower.  Thoughts are very powerful. Hindu scriptures talk about  instant judgments rather than one final judgment after death.

Our life is an  “open book”  and we are judged every second of our lives. There are volumes of literature in Hinduism about power of thoughts.  In his very popular book   Think & Grow Rich  Napoleon Hill has repeated many Hindu ideas. 

How can you say that the Law of Karma is true?  You are right. There are no clear cut scientific answers out there. But look around you, and you will see inequalities around us.   

A baby is born in the dry deserts of Ethiopia and another baby is born in luxury of Beverly Hills. Both are innocent babies. One dies of malnutrition and other lives in luxury. Without the help of Karmic theory, we cannot explain this paradox in life.

Is God bound by the Law of Karma?  Yes, when God or IT [ I am using the word IT to address God, since God is neither man nor woman] takes a form and come to earth then we call that an avatar.

 

When God came as Lord Rama, he killed a Monkey king by trick way, and when God came back as Krishna he was killed by the same monkey, in the body of a hunter. God came as Lord Buddha to eradicate many things in Hindu society. 

 

Jesus Christ himself gave up his life on the cross,  to take care of the karmic debt of all the people such as apostles surrounded him.  Each time Jesus  cured  a disease, each  time he saved someone from death, he was voluntarily accepting KARMIC DEBT of others. Many departed saints in India, like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, had accepted the KARMIC DEBT of his disciples. Ramakrishna died a painful death by cancer.

 

Can Karmic debt  be transferred?  YES I think so. You can transfer Karmic debt of someone else to yourself willfully like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Jesus,  &  Mogul emperor Humayoon did.  You can also transfer karmic debt of someone else on to you, by attacking him or her by a very selfish manner.    Believe me when Christ said: JUDGE NOT, YE BE NOT JUDGED , he was repeating what was written in many Hindu scriptures.

 

Concept of Karma& Reincarnation is  to help people.  They are  not  discussed to make  lives of people  miserable. It is NOT to hurt or  to  make life  miserable for people on earth.  If  "Concept of Karma& Reincarnation"  intendto judge or punish people, then  Hinduism is  no better than other religions  which believe in ORIGINAL SIN & ETERNAL HELL.

 

Lord Krishna has assured us in the Bhagavad Gita;

 

"Even if you are the worst sinner in the world, you can cross the ocean of sin with a bark of wisdom." 

 

" In the beginning of time or KALPA, I create everything and at the end of time  KALPA,  the whole creation merge in me.   By my will the whole universe  is created & annihilated again and again "    [9:7,8,]

18 Missing Years of Jesus Christ. Was he in India?

The entire birth & life of Jesus Christ is shrouded in mystery, fable and legend. The Holy Bible records the birth of Jesus as well as his life until he was 12 years old in vivid detail.

After that, there is no discussion about Jesus’s life for the next 18 years.Where was he during those years? Some will say that it does not matter where he was. But how can Bible fail to tell us about those 18 missing years, when it gives vivid details about the first 12 years of his sermons, life, his crucifixion & resurrection.

Where was Jesus of Nazareth during the 18 missing years of his life? That is a million dollar question.

A ——- Holy Bible does not shed much light on this matter except Luke 2:40 states “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

B——–Even DEAD SEA SCROLLS did not deal with this subject. The Dead Sea Scrolls span the lifetime of Jesus Christ, Old Testament to New Testament, yet fails to shed any light on the life of Jesus during the 18 missing years.

By the way, The Dead Sea scrolls consist of roughly 900 documents and they were found in caves 20 miles east of Jerusalem in 1947 and 1956 by a Arab boy.

C——–There is no detail about this matter in world history.
Did Jesus Christ visit India during the “missing” 18 years of his life?
1—–When I was writing my book, AM I A HINDU?, I wrote to few Christian missions asking them those questions and only answer I got from them was Jesus was not in India during those 18 years. They did not answer where was Jesus during that period.

2—– I feel there is some kind of a cover up on their part. Since all of them vehemently oppose the importance of Gnostic gospels which resemble Hindu philosophical concepts in many ways, I feel they want to deny any connection of Jesus with India.

3—– There are who will argue that Jesus  teachings was adversarial to the view of Hindu concepts and beliefs and his teachings were based on the Hebrew concept of God and reality. I strongly disagree.

4 —– To me his statements such as “Love thy enemy”, “‘I and my father are one’ have to do a lot with Hindu concepts and ideals than Old Testament teachings. The “born again ritual” in the Bible has much to with Hindu Dwija [twice born] concept and Hindu Upanayana ritual than any other Jewish Ritual

5—– Let us search more. For example, in the Gospel according to St. Thomas, Jesus said : He who takes the word out of my mouth will become just like me. To me all those statements are repetitions of some of the statements in the Hindu Upanishads.

6 —- When Jesus said “ I AM GOD”, he was actually repeating the Upanishad statement AHAM BRAHMANASMI [Brihadaranyaka Upanishad] meaning I am God as well as the statement Tat Tvam Asi - Thou Art That [Chandogya Upanishad ] meaning again that the individual immortal soul within the body is indeed the supreme soul or Paramathman or God.

7—– When Jesus Christ said: “ I am the way, the truth, and life: No man cometh unto the father, but by me” [John 14:6]. , he was repeating what Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, “I am the source of all spiritual & material worlds. Everything emanates from me. ” [GITA 10:8] “ Everything is born of me. I am the original source of all. No one is above me .” [GITA 12:6, 7]

8—— It is my opinion that Jesus was in India during his 18 missing years and much of Jesus taught like showing the other cheek, was a repetition of what Gautama Buddha taught. Compassion and love of Jesus for humanity is similar to what Lord Buddha had. I wish to speculate that Jesus’s teaching of chastity, non-violence, and renunciation were derived from Hinduism & Buddhism rather than from Old Testament. “Hatred is not conquered by hatred at any time, but hatred is won by love; this is an eternal truth” Gautama Buddha and Jesus said: LOVE THY ENEMY [Luke 6:27]

9—– What Jesus taught was an exact contradiction to what Old Testament taught. Old Testament taught EYE FOR AN EYE, where as Jesus taught LOVE THY ENEMY and SHOW THE OTHER CHEEK.

10—– When Jesus said: ” Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4) he was actually referring to Prana associated with breath mentioned in Raja Yoga.

11—– When Jesus said: “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”, he was actually referring to the Hindu belief that anyone who meditates at the center of the eyes called “ Kuthastha Chaitanya” or “Cosmic Consciousness” will see light alone.

12—— According to a Video LOST YEARS OF JESUS (1976) 92 min, during the “missing years” Jesus was in Tibet learning Buddhism along with Tibetan monks and they called him Saint Issa.

13—– The life story of St. Essa or Issa closely resembles the life of Jesus Christ revealing what may well be the lost years or missing years of Jesus Christ.

14 —- Jesus later left Tibet and went to Benaras and learned all Hindu scriptures under Hindu saints. Jesus was sick of the caste system existed among Hindus.

15—- Jesus wanted to fight “Caste System” in India, but he was told that his mission is back in Middle east to take care of his own people. So he returned to Judea through an Arab caravan.

16—– In a book written in 1894,   a prophet named Issa, who sounded strikingly like Jesus.   According that book there is  a manuscript in a Tibetan lamasery dealing with Jesus’ visit.

17—– There are two more books dealing with Jesus visit to India. One is “A Search for the Historical Jesus. From Apocryphal, Buddhist, Islamic & Sanskrit Sources” written by Fida M. Hassnain (first published 1994 by Gateway Books, U.K.); the second one is “Jesus lived in India” by Holger Kersten.

18—– Once again, we do not know the exact truth. I agree. Life of Jesus is a mystery. Anyway, I see Jesus Christ to be the WESTERN LORD BUDDHA, since Jesus taught the world “unmotivated selfless compassion and love” like Lord Buddha did.

19 —– It is stated in the video that in 1890’s after a trip by Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian, to Tibet, he found this amazing, ancient manuscript in a lamasery concerning Jesus.

20—— In Hindu BHAVISHYA PURANA, there are statements regarding a person who is similar to Jesus Christ. It is stated, once upon a time a Hindu king named Himatunga met a very auspicious man who was living on a mountain near Himalayas. Complexion of this man was golden and his clothes were white. (Bhavishya Purana 19:22.) ko bharam iti tam praaha

21—- It is said that there is historical evidence of Jesus Visit to Ladak, Tibet, India. That fact is documented in a Russian Nicolas Notovitch’ works. It is stated that In 1887, Notovitch, a Russian Jew converted to Greek Orthodoxy visited the city of Leh, capital of the district of Ladakh on the border of India and Tibet.

Many years ago, one day  I saw on TV, a preacher from Texas telling a  BBC reporter that late  Mother Theresa won't go to heaven, unless she comes to his church and become “born-again.”  I never could understand why the preacher condemned Mother Thersa.  How can he or any one else say that about the a great devotee of God, even though she has nothing to do with Hinduism? 

The Hindu India, was indeed blessed by her Holy presence, even though she converted a lot of Hindus to Christianity.   Not even one Hindu saint ever said anything disrespectful about her. When she died, The whole India cried. Government of India gave her a Royal funeral.

 Well, now let us study deeply about   BORN AGAIN QUESTION.

 

Long, Long ago, the Christian term “Born-again” was exclusively used within the church as an important part of the church’s phraseology. Now it is widely used even in commercials, just like the word “Guru”.

 

The actual word in the Greek version of the New Testament is “Anothen” meaning “Born From the Above” or “Born of God”.

 

Jesus said, “Except man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” ( St. John 3-3) and Jesus added : “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again”. ( St. John 3-7).

 

The closest word in Hinduism to what Jesus said is Dwija.

 

The actual meaning of Dwija is “Twice Born”.

 

Who is a Dwija (Twice Born)? …..A Brahmin.

Who is a Brahmin?…. He or she who realizes  Brahman.

What is Brahman?…That which is infinite…God

 

So in a nutshell,

 He who realizes God is a "twice born"  
or
He who is a "twice born" automatically will realize God.

 

According to Hinduism, unless there is an absolute change in consciousness and absolute self purification, nobody can achieve God realization.

 

Without complete change of consciousness, it is impossible to realize God and vice versa.

 

So, it is to be assumed that omnipresent Jesus Christ was referring to a complete change of consciousness rather than any ritualistic and symbolic gestures.

 

A person who is "Born again" is indeed a realized person

 

What is " twice born"  ritual in Hinduism?

 

"Twice Born"  ritual in Hinduism is known as "Upanayanam".

 

Upanayanam is the ceremonial rite of giving a young boy [now a days only Brahmins do this  but once upon a time all upper castes conducted Upanayanam] a scared thread with an initiation into the Gayatri, the most popular and holiest of all Hindu mantras.  

 

Thread symbolizes — connection between material worlds to spiritual world.  First a thread is made of nine fine (thin) threads, then three such threads are connected by a knot. These three threads represent Satva, Raajas and Taamasa gunas, Rig, Yajur, Saama Vedas, Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati concepts.

 

Gayatri Mantra  symbolizes— the conveyance  by which he will travel from material world  to the spiritual world.

 

After the Uapnayanam ceremony, boy becomes a DWIJA ' TWICE BORN.  That means he has just started his journey into the  spiritual world through the sacred thread and Gayatri Mantra.

 

Ceremony  also  signifies the boy’s entry into the Brahmacharya ashram. [ the period of celibacy ] .

 

After the Upanayanam, the boy  is eligible to study the Vedas.

Caste System

orginated as

“Division of Labor”

during the time of Rig Veda.

Purusha Sukta’ hymn

(Rig Veda 10:90)

Since India became independent 1947, the Caste System has been illegal in India, even though it still continues to shape people's lives. Government of India has done everything in her power to better the lives of the lower castes such as specific employment privileges, scholarships for students and special representation in the Indian parliament.

CASTE SYSTEM- Blessing or Curse??!!

Since childhood, I am always tormented by the word CASTE and caste system. CASTE is a throbbing question in me.Why a culture so tolerant and so beautiful and so appealing, backing a very deplorable division of the society?

With hundreds of thousands of Dalits [refer to India West Magazine
November 9,2001- page A22] converting to Buddhism in November and millions of Hindus in India converting to Islam and Christianity, we have to ask this proverbial question,

Is a caste sytem a curse or blessing?? Is Caste System helping us or destroying us as a society and culture????It has destroyed the beautiful fabric of Hinduism. It created demonic things like "BRAHMINISM" and DEVADASI SYSTEM"Amazing that , in the name of caste, our society STILL forbids [socially] Namboodiris [Kerala Brahmins] marrying any lower castes; Wariers marrying Nairs and Nairs marrying Theyas etc.

In the name of age old caste system, society ill-treated and still ill-treating millions in North India. May be once upon a time, Caste system may be helpful for the proper function of the society, but today it should be abolished from the mind of the man for ever.

Let me boldly state that, if ” I was born as an untouchable” I will have no LOVE AFFAIR with Hinduism and will put down Hinduism, whenever I get a chance and will become a Buddhist or a Christian. Why should stay in a religion or a culture or in a society, where I am treated as a second class devotee??

Caste system is creating a very big barrier for reconversion of Hindus who left Hinduism for generations back into Hindu fold.Many Christians have openly expressed their desire to convert to Hinduism in their e-mails to me….

BUT into what caste they can be absorbed???

It is true that slavery is mentioned in the Holy Bible…..Jews and Christians gave up on slavery, even though “slavery is an accepted fact in Holy Bible” [Col. 4:11, Exodus 21:21; 1: Lev. XXV:44_ 55; Thessalonians 3:22 ] in the Holy Bible.

” Treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven [Col. 4:11]. ” The slave is his money “ [Exodus 21:21].

St. Paul urged one slave ONESIMUS to return to his master. .

Columbus a very devout Christian was indeed a missionary who did NOT feel any remorse in taking slaves from America. Spanish did have no problem in making American Indians and Mayans slaves since they were literally following the Holy Bible. Christians gave upon slavery, even though Biblical passages were used by over 200 preachers to justify slavery before the Civil War..

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America said:

“[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.”

In 1999, Southern Baptist Convention apologized to African Americans for slavery.

Like wise we have to give up on caste system.

Aham Brahmasmi

I am Brahman meaning I AM GOD.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10)

What does that mean? I am not the physical perishable material body but the immortal soul, Atman within the body. This Atman is indeed God.

Tat Tvam Asi

“That thou art,” or “You are that,”

(Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7]

'Tat Tvam Asi' or 'That thou art.' You are that what we call Brahman or God. Rishi Uddalaka repeats this message a number of times when instructing his disciple Svetaketu about the nature of Reality.

Prajnanam Brahma

Consciousness is Brahman

(Aitareya Upanishad 3.3, of Rg Veda)

Ayam Atma Brahma

This Self is Brahman

(Mandukya Upanishad 1.2, of Atharva Veda)

Everything is born of me. I am the original source of all. No one is above me

[Gita 12:6,7]

When Lord Buddha was asked the same question about I AM GOD, his answer was:

“ARE YOU GOD?”
Buddha said: “NO”

“Are you an Angel?”
Buddha said: “NO”

“Are you a saint?”
Buddha said: “NO”

“THEN WHAT ARE YOU?"
” I AM AWAKE”

answered Lord Buddha…

The word BUDDHA in Sanskrit means to KNOW OR AWAKE IN KNOWLEDGE

CONCLUSIONS:

BIRD”S EYE-VIEW OF YOGA OF EAST
You can hear the word YOGA in every nook and corner of the world. It is freely used by those lucky ones who gulp gallons of champagne and consume tons of Caviar. But few have detailed knowledge of it. I am not here to state that Yoga is real or not real But to just state the facts regarding it. It is very important to know the whole story.

Even though Yoga orginated in Hinduism, YOGA has nothing to do with any religion. It is a Sanskrit word but still it covers the goal of every religion and every culture on earth. When some one prays to Krishna,he is following BHAKTI YOGA. If some one prays to Jesus, he is alsofollowing BHAKTI YOGA. Yoga is like Physics or Chemistry; It isuniversal.

He summarized YOGA as CHITTA VRITHI NIRODHA.Sage Vasishta told Lord Rama in the Yoga Vasishta: When the mind vibrates [when one thinks];This whole world come to existence"

Sage Vashishta told Sri Rama